Dread Nights
by Saric the Slayer
Summary: Ed and Al have ended up in 1940's Germany after crossing through the Gate of Truth by accident and befriend an Alchemist, who becomes their new teacher. But soon four powerful beings appear and set forth their plan to bring everything to ruin. ON HIATUS.
1. Introduction

**I DON'T OWN FMA.**

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This is the Full Metal Alchemist fanfiction story that I have come up with, which I was too lazy to write down before. It goes by the story of FMA: Brotherhood, but Ed and Al have ended up in the real world, in Germany to be specific, just like in the FMA movie but Al has his body back. I have plenty of ideas for this story but I just need to organize them which may take a while. I'll add chapters whenever I can but keep in mind that certain chapters will be from a certain character's point of view. Mostly it will be: Ed and Al, Mr. Eckart, and a few other characters.


	2. Pulled In

******It may take a while to come up with new chapters. I DON'T OWN FMA.**

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When Edward and Alphonse Elric had defeated Father and the Homunculi, they had set out to travel the world and research different forms of alchemy. Al had gotten his body back but the two still continued their search even though Ed could no longer use alchemy. One day when they were researching, something happened that they didn't expect. When Al had attempted a transmutation, it backfired. But instead of rebounding it swallowed them up and then they saw a familiar sight, the Gate of Truth. But the gate looked different than they remembered and Truth was not there and this time the Gate had a sinister feel to it. The Gate opened and from out of the darkness stepped a strange looking man. He was dressed in armor which look as if it was on the verge of falling apart, it was ancient in appearance, and on his back he carried a large sword. But strangest of all, he smelt like blood. Then he spoke:

"At last, the Elric Brothers, I did not expect it to work so easily as it did."

Immediately the two could tell that his intentions weren't good, the fact that he knew who they were was a bad sign. Before they could do anything, the man grabbed them and pulled them through the gate and it shut behind them. They fell through portal for a few seconds and ended up in a room that was filled with cogs and gears. It appeared to be the inside of some sort of clock tower. Ed, wanting to know what had happened asked:

"What the hell do you want, pulling us through the Gate like that!"

Then the man answered, "You two are an anomaly, something that should not exist, but you do. You have knowledge that most others don't have. Me and my brothers have been given the task of finding people like you. I was sent here to capture you two."

"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen. We don't know who you are but we've been through way too much just to be captured by someone like you in the end."

Suddenly the two brothers jumped back and prepared to fight their new enemy. The man drew his large sword and charged toward them. They dodged him several times but he just cut through every obstacle Ed and Al used as cover. The fight dragged on for a few minutes and then there was a loud boom outside and then gunfire. The man stopped.

"Aww crap, already? That was sooner than I thought. Well, looks like I'll have to be leaving, and the fight was just getting good. We'll meet again, and next time you won't be as lucky."

"Wait who are you?" Ed asked him.

"They call me War, the Harbinger of Destruction." with that he jumped through the glass window of the clock tower and disappeared outside. They heard the marching of soldiers outside and then gunfire and then screams of agony. When they got outside, what they saw shocked them. Everything was silent and there were dead soldiers everywhere. Most of them had been hacked to pieces, most likely by the one called War. They wondered, how could one man armed with a sword do all this to a platoon of soldiers armed with guns and in such a short amount of time? Ed decided it was best not to follow him and the two of them just ran as far away as they could just as the surrounding area filled up with gunfire. They made it into the woods and for hours traveled, eventually making it to a town.

They stayed there for a few days and learned that they were in a different world than their own. They figured that the transmutation backfiring must have landed them in this world on the other side of the Gate and apparently there was no way to get back. But they also thought about the possibility that War was the one who had brought them here. After a week they learned that they were in a country called Germany in the continent of Europe. The year is 1945, and a big war had been going on between two factions, the Nazis and the Allied Powers, but it was reaching its end. From the townspeople Ed and Al heard about all the terrible things the Nazis had done during the war and hearing about the horrible deeds committed by the Nazi leader Hitler reminded them of all the events that had happened back home.

The town of Eisenstad, which is where they were now staying, had remained virtually untouched by the war. It was a remote town up in the mountains and not many travelers visited it. It was a town of miners and farmers and the people there were good -natured. The town was surrounded by beautiful scenery with a river running by it, which flowed down from the mountains. The townspeople took great pride in the peaceful environment of their town and how the war had never reached it. Eisenstad seemed every bit as much like their childhood home of Resembool. Over the next few weeks Ed and Al became fluent enough in German, the language of the townspeople, and knew enough to be able to make their way around town.

Thinking over what had happened Al spoke, "What was that guy's problem? He just pulled us through the Gate for no reason and then just ran off without telling us anything. Now who knows if we'll ever be able to go back."

Then Ed responded: "Looks like we'll be stuck here for a while, we might as well get comfortable. Some of the townspeople have mentioned something about a strange man who lives all by himself in a big house in the nearby forest. He's has done a lot of things the sound like alchemy, it may be a long shot but he may be our best chance of finding out what happened and how we got here. But why rush? There's a whole new world for us to explore, just think of all the things we might discover? When we wanted to go see the world to find new knowledge this might finally be the chance we were waiting for, even though we're here by mistake."

"Well, where do we start? We should lay low for now, we don't know if the guy who calls himself War might come back for us, and he said: _Me and my "brothers"_, so there's others like him that could come after us too. Maybe he's working for someone?"

"There's no way that guy could have been human, and the way he just killed all those soldiers like it was nothing... He has an unnatural blood-lust, and to think there are other people like him. I hope we don't have the chance to meet any of them, we could barely fight him off.

"Looks like our fighting skills are a bit rusty, we should start training again. We should be ready if he does come back for us.

_The strange thing about this world, though they may not know it yet is that there are also versions of people who exist in Ed and Al's world in this owrld that seem to be look-a-likes of the originals. Who knows who they might end up meeting?_


	3. Escape

******It may take a while to come up with new chapters. I DON'T OWN FMA.**

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_Flashback_:

In a deep underground facility, a group of German scientists and soldiers were escorting something. Under the soldiers watchful eyes was a humanoid creature wrapped in thick metal chains, cuffs, a straight jacket, and just about everything else needed for a maximum security target. They led him across a metal catwalk suspended above a deep chasm of the lab and on the other side was a small, cylinder shaped, metal pod lined with layers of the thick metal. They put the creature inside and sealed the door tightly. The soldiers quickly left, glad to be away from the creature.

Once inside the other room behind the thick glass window the lead solder said to the scientist in charge: "Are you sure you know what you're doing? That thing is dangerous, he killed 257 of our soldiers before we could subdue him."

"Yes we are well aware of the danger he poses to our safety, but the top scientists want research to be done on him. This specimen is just too interesting to ignore."

"Well good luck with your research, but before we go, here is what we know about it: he has a very destructive nature, leave him unguarded for a moment and you'll all be dead the next. We have no idea where it came from, but it's healing is remarkable, our soldiers shot him so many times and he wouldn't die." As the soldiers went out the door the scientists went back to their research.

After many days went by the scientists learned much about the creature. They found out he had the ability to shape-shift between two forms, a skeleton-like monster, barbaric in appearance, and a human with a just as frightful personality. After they removed his armor, on his chest they found a red tattoo which showed a snake eating its own tail and forming a circle with a hexagram in the middle. Beneath the tattoo was an image of a sword with the word "bellum" beneath it, which was Latin for War. The scientists questioned him about it but he did not indulge them with an answer. They had no idea that even now he was planning his escape.

That chance did come. The scientists had carelessly left him without his restraints inside his containment pod, and when the soldier who was supposed to be watching him had to go take a dump, he saw his chance. Using his claws he cut through the walls of his pod and as it began to depressurize an alarm sounded. To the scientists this signaled their worst nightmare. He was pissed off. He ran trough the hallways shredding through both object and soldier alike that stood in his way. Even though he didn't have his weapon with him, his teeth and claws were like razor sharp steel and would have to do for now. He reached the store room and tore it up, finally finding his beloved sword and his helm, which he put on his head and then quickly put on what little of his armor remained intact.

Getting closer to the exit, one of the soldiers quickly and frightfully tried to open the door to get out, but War quickly impaled him through the door with his sword and then not bothering to open the door, just ran right through it. Luckily for the scientists War didn't really bother with them, thinking they were too weak and no fun to kill; he liked fights with challenging opponents. He made his way outside and the soldiers began retreating. The soldiers were shouting: "He's loose, retreat, we can't fight him this way right now."

War managed to escape his pursuers and fled into the nearby woods. He began to say to himself: "I made it just in time and this looks like the place." He reached an old clock tower and quickly scrambled up the steps to the top room. He grabbed a soft rock and began drawing a circle around the room and connected it with various lines and shapes. "Done, better hurry up, my brothers are waiting for me. My objective is to capture or eliminate the two targets as quickly as possible. I'd best make myself presentable, wouldn't want them freaking out the moment they saw me." War then transformed into his human form a put his sword on his back. Next he put his hands in the center of the circle and the array activated.

_Current time_:

There was a large, old house in the middle of a forest up in the mountains near a town. It was dark inside except for one room, which seemed to be a study. It was lit by candles in various places in the room. The book shelves contained books by various authors and about various subjects such as: Aristotle, Nicolas Flamel, anatomy, astronomy, and transmutation, among others; it had basically almost every kind of book imaginable. At a desk sat a man reading a book, his features were hard to see in the dim light. He suddenly stopped as if he sensed something and turned toward the doorway. There stood a giant man with a confused look.

"The man at the desk said: "Well Brutus, I'm not sure if you felt it but it seems like someone's been pulled through the Gate."

Brutus responded:"Well Mr. Eckart, does that mean we're going to have to-"

"Yes", he cut him off. "It seems that it was two people who were pulled through the gate this time. We'd better get to them before _"they"_ do. If we don't save them, those two will end up dead like all the others."

"Great, more hard work." responded Brutus.

"Oh come on, its not that bad." he responded casually. He closed the book he was reading with the palm of his hand and said: "Things are about to get interesting around here"...

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_Omake:_

*toilet flushes* A solider walks out of the bathroom and quickly makes his way back to his station, hoping that his superior did not notice he had left his post to go to the bathroom. But he finds the entire place completely empty and quiet.

"Where did everybody go?"

"Solider! Where the hell have you been!"

He nearly jumped when he heard that voice. It was his commanding officer.

"Well, where were you?"

"Taking a dump sir!" the soldier responded and stood at attention.

"At a time like this! You were supposed to be watching the creature in the containment pod."

"But I really had to go, what else could I have done?"

"You get a bucket, that's what. I'm able to stay at my post for days when I keep a bucket with me."

"Did you really have to tell me that, that's just gross."

"Not as much as your incompetence. Now a bunch of our men have been injured and the rest had to evacuate, and you didn't notice at all?"

"No"

"Alright, this is the last time you screw up. Since you love going to the bathroom so much, you are now on TOILET DUTY!"

"Aww man..."

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**Sorry about the long wait, I was busy with other stuff. Now I may be able to update more.**


	4. War and Famine

**Here is the next chapter. I'm starting to get better with the dialogue and chapter length. I have now greatly edited and revised the previous chapters and added in more information and dialogue which make it seem much better written than it was. I have now filled in many of the plot holes that the previous version had left. If if you have already read the previous chapters a while back before I had released this chapter and fixed the previous ones, I highly advise that you reread them, starting at the Introduction. I DON'T OWN FMA.**

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There was something about it that Ed just couldn't get out of his mind. In the confusion of when they were pulled through the Gate he couldn't help but notice something. The Gate had looked almost entirely different then when he had seen it the last time he met Truth. This Gate though, had a more sinister appearance to it and just being near it made him feel as if something was wrong.

Then he awoke from his dream. He was in a dark room in a small apartment they had managed to find to stay at. Al, sleeping in the bed next to him noticed him waking suddenly. "What's wrong Ed?"

"It's nothing, it's just that..., hey Al when we were pulled through the Gate by that scary guy did you notice something about the Gate?"

"Like what?"

"It looked a lot different than it did when I last saw Truth, and when your body was trapped in there. It seemed more sinister this time. Also, where was Truth? Isn't he supposed to be guarding the Gate from people like us?"

"Now that you mention it does seem strange."

"I think I've come to a conclusion as to why the Gate was different and why Truth wasn't there. It can only mean one thing,... that wasn't Truth's Gate. It seems that there is more than one Gate, but with this one, nothing was taken from us, and nobody was guarding it. War somehow knew about this and knew that it would allow him to freely pass between our world and this one."

"But why did he go after us in the first place? The whole thing seemed random and it happened too quick."

"I don't know, he said something about finding those who had seen the Truth, but I think he was telling only half the truth. There's more to it than that, he was hiding something."

"By the way, what about that man who lives as a hermit we've heard rumors about? He seemed to be well known and respected by the people of the village; they say he can do magic, but the way they described it, it sounded a lot like alchemy. It seems that in this world nobody knows what alchemy really is, misunderstanding it as just the art of turning metals into gold. Wait... I thought alchemy wasn't supposed to work on this side of the Gate."

Then Ed's face showed him realizing something. "Then that means,... Al I'm going to try something." Putting his hands on the ground, there was a flash of light and he transmuted a small statue figure, just like how they used to when they were kids. "YES! My alchemy works on this side of the Gate. I can't believe I haven't tried it yet. So now you aren't the only one who can use it now."

"How is this possible?"

"Maybe when we were pulled from our side of the gate into this world it somehow reversed the loss of my alchemy, but how?"

In the excitement of their discovery, the tenant of the apartment started shouting from downstairs for them to quiet down. They quickly got into bed and tried to fall asleep, which was hard to do with all of their excitement. "Hey Ed, do you think we should go find that guy? I think his name was Mr. Eckart, maybe he might be able to help us make sense of all this, "if" what they say is true and he really can use alchemy."

"Okay, that sounds like a plan, we'll need to visit the market tomorrow to restock on food. Goodnight Al."

"Yeah, goodnight brother." With that they both fell asleep soon after.

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In the quiet busy marketplace everything seemed pretty ordinary. It reminded them of the marketplace in Dublith back in their world, and they thought that they saw a few familiar faces there too. After they finished buying groceries from the clerk, who greatly resembled Gracia, the wife of Meas Hughes, they split up to go get the last few items they needed. When Al was far enough away from Ed he began to notice something; an old man in a cloak that concealed most of his face had been quietly following them the whole time. Al had not said anything about it to Ed earlier because he had thought it might alert their pursuer. When Al reached an area where there were no people around he began to run, and as expected the man began to chase after him. He reached a dead end alley and began to cast a transmutation, but it was futile. Before he could blink, the old man appeared right next to him, almost making Al jump out of him shoes from the sudden surprise, and that was the last Al saw before going unconscious.

_Later:_

Ed had been looking for Al for the past two hours and more people were starting to come into the market as noon approached, which would make finding him harder, but still there was no sign of him.

"_Where the hell did he go off to_." Ed thought to himself. He eventually reached a dead end alley and saw a few groceries dropped on the ground, they were unmistakeably the ones Al had been carrying.

"This had better not turn out like it did in Dublith." Ed said to himself with annoyance, remembering the events when Al was abducted by Greed's gang in Dublith. He noticed something strange in the area though. There was a trail of sand, which seemed to lead from the alley all the way into the nearby field at the outside of town, probably left by the kidnapper, most likely on purpose. Cautiously he followed the trail out into the field.

"Of course it has to be in the middle of nowhere.", and right there in an abandoned farmhouse he saw Al awake and tied up. "Al!" he ran straight for him and untied him as quickly as he could.

"Brother it's him again" Al pointed behind Ed and he heard a familiar voice.

"Well if it isn't you again.", they turned around and saw War, the one who they had fought before in the clock tower, and with him was the mysterious old man who had been following them.

"So you came back for us? You still haven't told us why you dragged us through the gate?"

"Now that would be telling." War replied in a playful tone. "We still haven't finished what we started last time."

"So you're just not going to give us an answer then?"

"Just who are you people and what do you want with us?"

"Oh us, we're nothing, just beings without a purpose, endlessly wandering the earth in search of what we once had" the old man replied with a grin. "They call me Famine the Ravager."

"Then why are you after us?"

"Our mission is to find those who have seen the Truth." answered the old man known as Famine.

"That's a lie! You're not telling us the whole reason behind it, and how do you know about the Truth? Are you working for someone?"

"Simple" replied Famine, "All is one and one is all."

"So you know alchemy too then?"

"I'm surprised a boy like you even knows what alchemy is."

"We're not from around here, but in our world alchemy is quite common."

"So it seems, no matter, you'll still end up like all the others."

"Are we done talking?" replied War impatiently, "I want to fight already."

"Fine do whatever." The old man replied with an annoyed look. Then there was a flash of red light and War transformed from a human into his other form. It looked much like a skeleton, but with a black shroud like apparition around his bones that made it impossible to see through them. He wore furs of animals and armor fearsome in appearance, but it looked as if it was on the verge of falling apart. In his hands he wielded an equally frightening greatsword, which was almost as big as Ed, but it suited his monstrous form well, which was much wider than them and towered over them by two or three feet. He looked much like how one would picture a barbarian, but one that was now long dead and their flesh rotted away.

Seconds later War was almost right on top of them and was swinging his giant sword as if it were nothing more than a child's toy. Ed began dodging as much as he could and Al joined the fight. Al almost pissed himself as War cut right through the trunk of a tree and narrowly missed him. As the fight continued, War was unknowingly and recklessly destroying everything around him in the process.

"Great, once you get him started there's almost no stopping him." Famine said sighing. "He always has to destroy everything in the process. Oh well, I'm joining in too." Famine partially threw back his cloak and underneath he appeared as an old man with long, white hair and he was much skinnier than he looked. His clothes seemed to have sand falling from them; so the sand in the alley had come from him. He stepped forward and in a few short steps was right next to Ed, and he almost didn't notice. For someone who appeared his age, he was impossibly fast.

Ed and Al began to use alchemy to create walls of earth but Famine would just touch them and they would crumble away into sand and dust. He was using some kind of alchemy that could deconstruct matter by crumbling it away into tiny particles, as if he was draining the very life out of it, and that matter becoming very dry and parched. When getting close to him something felt very strange. Being around him they felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue, thirst and hunger. It was as if he was just sapping the energy away from them, making them lose the strength to fight. Their movements also got slower around him, as if he was slowing down time itself. This was bad, close range attacks weren't going to work on him.

The two of them were formidable opponents, Al was busy dodging War so Ed decided to use a long ranged strategy against Famine. He alchemised a spear like he always used to in Amestris, from the nearby rusted and broken down tractor. He fought off Famine's attacks from a distance with the spear which gave him a lot of reach, so he did not have to get too close to Famine. The battle was dragging out too long and if he didn't end his fight with Famine soon he would collapse from the state of exhaustion his powers were causing him.

Ed and Al both backed away a huge distance and regrouped under a large tree to catch their breath; War and Famine also regrouped. "Al we need to think of a strategy quick. We aren't going to last much longer if this keeps up. I only have my automail leg now and you have your mortal body back, so fighting isn't going to be the same as it was back then. Something about the old guy's power is making us lose energy much faster than normal."

Al responded, "How are those two able to go on for so long. There's no way they can be human, at least not War." He thought for a moment, "Maybe we should try retreating, there's no point in dying in a fight we can't win. They dragged us here, we were just minding our own business."

"Okay, we'll have to stop War from moving somehow, this will give us just enough time to escape before he breaks free. After that I think we might be able to get far enough away to blend back into the crowd in the town and make a run for our hideout, then we'll think about what to do next once we're there. But remember we're not running because we're scared, we're running because this is an impossible battle that we never even wanted to be a part of."

"Sounds like a plan, brother." Al said back.

"Okay, break time's over." War came down from above and landed right in front of them, leaving a crack in the ground where his sword had hit. Ed and Al both transmuted the ground and formed a dome of rock, trapping War beneath. They started running and Famine jumped in front of them, so Ed then tried to slash him across the stomach with his spear. He had actually managed to catch him off guard, but had only been able to cut the cloth of his cloak. They backed away a few yards and Famine grabbed the cloak over his stomach where Ed had made a hole. He removed his hand from his stomach, revealing the skin underneath where the hole in his clothes had been made and then they saw it. On his stomach was the unmistakable red tattoo of a dragon eating its tail, the Ouroboros. Below it was a symbol of an hourglass full of sand and above it was the word _fames_, which meant Famine in Latin, a dead language Ed and Al had heard about and had learned a few words of it while in this world.

"No way, he's a homunculus!" Ed and Al were both shocked.

"So you know about homunculi too?" Famine had gotten back on his feet and War came to his side, having broken free from their trap.

"Well look at this, I'm one too." War removed his chest plate and right there on his chest was an Ouroboros tattoo with a symbol of a sword underneath it and the word _bellum_, meaning War right above it. He then put his chest plate back on and prepared for his next attack.

Ed and Al looked at each other and knew what their next move should be and what to do next. They had no choice, they couldn't stay here and fight any longer; this was now a losing battle against an enemy they could not kill. With that in mind they both transmuted another dome of rock and trapped both War and Famine underneath it. War, who had been running straight towards them, ran right into the wall of earth as it came up out of the ground and fell backwards. "Now we run like hell." Ed said to Al.

They both darted off as fast as they could to reach the woods and blend into the forest before they broke free. They could see that the dome of earth was already starting to crumble from Famine's powers. They reached the forest and were making their way across the road. War and Famine were now following close behind them. Ed and Al had crossed the road and right as War and Famine got onto the road a car came flying down the road and ran straight into them, sending them flying. Ed and Al couldn't believe their luck, or the recklessness of the driver, but it was no accident. The car stopped and a man jumped out of it and ran towards the area where War and Famine had landed.

War got up from the ground, "Well that hurt like a son of a bitch!"

"So you've attempted to hinder us again Dread." Famine got up off the ground and was joined by War, both feeling sore from the collision. They seemed to know the strange man who had appeared. Ed and Al were now far enough away from the scene to not be seen by War and Famine. They hid behind some trees to watch, curious to see what would happen next.

"Well isn't this a damn good day!" added in War. "Now we get to capture three alchemists today. We've been looking for you too Dread, you saved us the trouble of having to go look for you and brought yourself to us. You would have been our next target."

"I guess you people won't ever stop coming after me, will you? Well I can't just let you succeed in whatever the hell you're doing. I'm not running away anymore." the strange man said resolutely. "Besides, aren't I a better opponent?" With that he put his hands to the ground and transmuted thick, heavy, metal chains, which wrapped around War, effectively preventing him from continuing to fight. Ed and Al's expressions showed surprise, seeing that this man was also an alchemist like them. Next he rushed towards Famine and transmuted a fist of earth that hit him and sent him flying again.

"Dammit, this wasn't part of the plan!" Famine shouted angrily as he was halfway towards the ground. He was pretty tough for a Homunculus that looked like an old man. "Well looks like we'll have to do a little strategic retreat, War."

"By strategic retreat don't you mean run like hell?" the man responded back.

Famine went to go fetch War, "We'll be seeing you again Dread, and you too Elric Brothers; I see you hiding back there!." Ed and Al immediately jumped up and started running.

"Crap he knew where we were the whole time. I think now is a good time to leave." Ed said to Al while running. Famine grabbed one of the chains holding War in one hand and in the other picked up War's sword and started running too, but away in another direction to an unknown destination, dragging War on the ground as he ran. They disappeared into the horizon and the man got back into his car and left, obviously disappointed that he didn't get much of a fight. Ed and Al were glad that he had saved their asses but they kept running anyway. They got back to the town and found the groceries that Al had dropped in the alleyway and then went back to their apartment room.

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When they got back they locked the door and blocked it and put the groceries on the table. They were shaken by the experience they had just gone through and needed to cool off to get their thoughts together.

"Well I'm not sure what just happened back there but now we should be safe.

"Well what do we do now brother?"

"We should lay low for a while, maybe we should start to look for that Alchemist guy we've heard about."

"Wait, do you remember that Famine called that guy who hit them with the car Dread? Wasn't that alchemist guy's title Lord Dread? I think that was him that we saw fighting War and Famine."

"Great, so now we know what he looks like."

"Then that guy back there, he kicked their asses!" Ed and Al began to laugh at the thought of how he had hit them with the car and sent them flying, and how easily the man had beaten back War and Famine.

Then Al continued, "He must really be a powerful alchemist then,.. and a reckless driver."

"By the way, didn't you notice something about him?"

"Like what?"

"He was performing transmutations without an array."

"Do you think he's seen the Truth like us? It doesn't look like anything was taken from him, well at least not that we could see."

"He's just like us, he defiantly might be able to give us some information about what's going on."

"Alright but what about our current situation. Those two homunculi defiantly wanted something with us. They'll most likely be back again. But where did they come from?"

"We'll have to think of a plan incase we meet them again."

"This is bad." Ed said to Al. "Someone in this world has been creating Homunculi too; and these Homunculi, they're on a whole different level than the ones we've faced before. They're stronger, faster, and their bodies are much tougher; we couldn't even put a scratch on them. All I did was just make a hole in Famine's cloak. What's worse, they can use alchemy; at least to a certain extent. The homunculi we've fought before couldn't. Who knows how many others might come after us. We defiantly need to find that Lord Dread guy, the townspeople just call him Mr. Eckart though. Those homunculi are after him too, and he might be able to help. We need him to teach us."

"By the way, those two homunculi were called War and Famine. The homunculi we faced before were named after the Seven Sins, but I wonder what those two got their names from?"

Al looked at the clock on the wall. "It's already 3:00 PM, we were gone for almost the whole day when we should have been gone for an hour!"

"We've still got some time. Maybe we could go outside and train for a bit, we'll need it."

"We probably shouldn't go too far from the apartments for a while. We don't know if War and Famine might be waiting for us to leave and go someplace with no people. Even though those two were pretty destructive, they seemed very careful about not making a scene around all those people, which must have been why they lured us to that field."

"Alright, lets go train. That fight we just had gave us plenty of practice. Now that I think about it, that fight was actually... fun."

"Fun? We could barely keep ourselves alive the whole time."

"I know that, but now that we're safe and I think back on it, it sort of brings back a nostalgic feeling. It reminds me of the good old days when we were trying to stop Father."

Al's spirits seem lifted. "Yeah, those days were fun. Thinking about it, I don't really want to go home right now. We're stuck in this whole new world that we never even knew existed. This could lead us to a whole new adventure, where we might be able to actually relive those days.

* * *

**This chapter took a while to do, and a lot of fixing. It's a key point in the story, so I had to get it just right. I already have ideas for the next chapter, I just need to organize them. My ideas for the story are constantly changing, so I do a lot of revising before releasing a new chapter. PLEASE REVIEW.  
**


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